The education system in the Philippines embraces formal and non-formal education. It is closely related to the American mode of education but differs in the number of school years as other countries have 12 years basic education. In the country however, elementary education is composed of 6 years and secondary education is 4 years which together with the tertiary education comprise the formal education system.
On the other hand, non-formal education includes education opportunities, even outside school premises, that facilitate achievement of specific learning objectives for particular clienteles, especially the out-of-school youths or adult illiterates who cannot avail of formal education. An example is functional literacy programmes for non-literate and semi-literate adults which integrate basic literacy with livelihood skills training
